Opera
" Figaro" at Glyndebourne
THE performance of Le Nozze di Figaro at Glyndebourne last week came as near to the ideal as anything I have seen or ant likely to see in a fallible world. It ranks now bestatt last year's Cosi fan Tulle, which I then thought the best of the four productions. The merit of this production is that all the characters, from Count Almaviva to Antonio, are properly in focus because they are brought into the right relation to Figaro himself. The Figaro here presented is, I take it, Herr Ebert's creation from the dramatic point of view. He is far from the conventional buffo figure—lively and quick-witted but capable of surliness and, above all, dangerous when roused. I give the credit to the producer, because last year's Figaro, Herr Domgraf-Fasshender, had exactly these qualities. His singing of " Se vuol ballare " was one of the most terrifying things I have experienced in opera. One felt that, if the Count had entered at the end of it, the comedy would come to a very abrupt and un- pleasant ending.
Signor Stabile, joining a company already well versed in Herr Ebert's views, fitted admirably into the scheme, though he was not quite so consistently fierce as his pre- decessor. His is a magnificent Figaro, illuminating with look and gesture every word he sings. There is no need to know Italian in order to understand what is toward with such an actor on the stage, and it is a measure of the company's general excellence that no one is utterly outshone by Figaro.
There is also a new Count, Mr. John Brownlee. This is the fifth part I have seen this admirable artist play in the past two months, and in each of them lie has presented a distinct individuality. That is, perhaps easy enough with Amonasro and Rigoletto, where make-up counts for much, but it is a fine achievement in the parts of Don Giovanni and the Count. I thought his Almaviva the best of the lot. His aristocratic bearing never completely lost its dignity even in the most undignified situations. The Count is a weaker character than the Don, and Mr. Brownlee did not give to the latter part its full masculine forcefulness, though his actual singing, for instance in the " Champagne " aria, was as fine as anything in the performance. He managed the Count's rages better than the Don's bravado, and, ably abetted by Herr Busch, the clarinets and the bassoons, gave us the musical equivalent of " blue murder " at the moment when he is told that Cherubino is hiding in the closet.
Miss Audrey Mildntay's Susanna was always a delicious piece of work and it has grown in certainty of touch and in vocal power and control since first I saw it. She hits off the character of Susanna more exactly than that of the less sophisticated Zerlina. I wish, however, that she (or Herr Busch, who is probably responsible, since other singers do likewise) would reconsider the question of the " long " appogiature. Her treatment of them in the introduction to " Deh ! vieni " is not even consistent ; sometimes the higher note is taken, sometimes the lower. The omission of the appoggialure makes for a certain flatness in the vocal line and is contrary to the well-founded tradition. Mme. Helletsgruber is dramatically almost the perfect Cherubino, but she does sacrifice to her conception of the character something of vocal style. Her shamefaced, breathless singing of Voi the sapete " is dramatically truthful, but this is a song in which surely beauty in singing should come first. She is also less quick than the others in the recitatives.
Mme. Rautawaara's Countess is the only really weak spot in this lovely performance. Mozart's Rosina is surely a maturer woman than this pretty girl ; anyhow, she has more dignity, more humour and more depth of feeling than is here dis- played. This singer's Pamina, on the other hand, is now excellent and really grows before our eyes from adolescence to an almost heroic stature in the scene of initiation. Mr. Heddle Nash gives a clever study of the waspish Basilio, and to give point to the character is dressed in a coat of black and yellow instead of the traditional soutane, which is, I think, a mistake (as also is the set ballet in the finale of Act III, where the dance should be performed by the Count's guests). Last I must mention Signor Baccaloni's Bartolo, a splendid figure of fun, as good in its minor way.
Previous page
